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Day’?s Verse:
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
1 Peter 1:6-7
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I find many things flummoxing in daily life. At work I recently noticed two more things that firmly elude my ability to imagine an answer to that most persistent question: “Why?” First, some background so you can visualize why these particular items irritate me in their incomprehensibility. Continue Reading >>

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Day’?s Verse:
Doom to you who legislate evil, who make laws that make victims—
Laws that make misery for the poor, that rob my destitute people of dignity,
Exploiting defenseless widows, taking advantage of homeless children.
Isaiah 10:1-4
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Americans enjoy the luxury of water in extravagant ways. We irrigate lawns, maintaining lush greenness throughout even the driest summer months. We establish golf courses in the middle of deserts. We use appliances that consume way more water than necessary — flush toilets, dishwashers, and washing machines are a few examples. We construct water parks that splash and flow with this precious resource. Mostly we don’t think about it, this wonderful miracle that is fresh water. We turn on a tap without ever wondering if the water coming out is pure enough to drink, taking for granted a resource to which billions of people have little or no access. Continue Reading >>

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Day’?s Verse:
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
James 2:14-17
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Friday marked Ian’s quarter-century, and also his only birthday when the date coincided with his age. We celebrated with a meal at a steakhouse up the road, followed by opening the gifts I had compiled for him (a Sudoku 365-day calendar, the last season of Babylon 5, and Mario Party 8 for the Wii) and watching Ian’s favorite episode of Star Trek: Next Generation (for nostalgia’s sake). Not wildly exciting, but we enjoyed ourselves and went to bed early, as we always do. Continue Reading >>

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Day’?s Verse:
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1:27
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One of my coworkers has started making dissatisfied rumbling noises about our job. The noises even go so far as to involve words like interview, headhunter, Monster account, and new job. My remaining coworker and I exchange wild-eyed glances at the thought of once again becoming a workforce of two in a job that requires at least three people. We originally lost two coworkers and one manager in the span of about six months, after which we struggled along fairly miserably until our new manager got the hang of our job and found us another coworker. The turnover rate at Charles River continues to astound me, although when I consider my remarkably long list of grievances, the really astounding realization is that I have stuck with this company for so long. Continue Reading >>

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Day’?s Verse:
Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire!
Hebrews 12:28-29
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Yesterday was one of those errands-running types of days that involved a bazillion stops on a three-hour-long circuit. At the end of this long day, Ian and I decided to reward ourselves with a trip to the Lazy Dog. By happy coincidence, a Consumer Auto Parts (C.A.P.) resides directly adjacent to that restaurant. For some reason as we passed by, I suddenly remembered that we needed wipes for the inside of the car windshield, which has filmed over with this scummy residue since we bought the car. None of our other cleaning attempts have dented the residue, so this was a last ditch attempt to regain a clear windshield. Continue Reading >>

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Day’?s Verse:
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Hebrews 12:11
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Over the years, Ian and I have slowly developed a list of extravagantly expensive items we hope to own one day. Purchases such as a house fall into a different category, as they aren’t exactly extravagances. Without further ado, the whoa-priced items we dream about:

ITEM / PRICE

Kohler K-700 Vintage Bath Continue Reading >>

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Day’?s Verse:
It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
Hebrews 12:7
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“Hey,” I call to my coworker across the aisle, “Do we change our address to Shewsbury on all reports?”

She doesn’t respond, not even a twitch. The MSN article on her monitor continues to scroll steadily. Is she intentionally trying to snub me? Did her mother fail to teach her basic manners?

Au contraire. My coworker is simply exhibiting the most noticeable symptom of the recently-discovered, almost 100% fatal, disease known as iPodosis. Continue Reading >>